In 1991, Somaliland declared independence from Somalia.
Since then, the Republic of Somaliland, as it calls itself,
has received no international recognition. Iqbal Jhazbhay is
a Horn of Africa expert at the University of South Africa.
He tells English to Africa reporter James Butty the issue of
Somaliland was discussed by AU foreign ministers prior to
the just concluded AU summit in Banjul, the Gambia. From
South Africa, Professor Jhazbhay explains to reporter James
Butty how the discussions came about and why.

“Three African states contributed to the debate and
discussion by stating that the Somaliland peace and
stability has to be acknowledged and recognized, and that
the African Union has to find a way to reward and
consolidate its stability and its emerging democracy. The
likelihood of this being raised is due to the fact that the
three African states in question – Kenya, Rwanda, and
Zambia – have engaged with the president of Somaliland
recently inviting him to their respective states.”

Professor Jhazbhay agrees that technically Somaliland is
still a part of Somalia. But he says by the AU sending a
separate team to Somaliland implies that it is a reality,
which the AU has to come to terms with and engage. “In the
2005 fact-finding report on Somaliland, it was mentioned
that Somaliland’s history is unique in Africa and that a
way has to be found to deal with it.”

Yet the question of whether the AU should grant
autonomous status to any region on the continent with a “unique”
culture remains controversial. Professor Jhazbhay explains
why the case of Somaliland is unique. “The African Union’s
fact-finding report on Somaliland says its political history
is unique in the sense that Somaliland went back to its
British colonial boundaries, and this in a way ties in with
the African Union’s constitutive act that states should
abide by the colonial boundaries.”